St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-13
Ratified by an Enthusiastic Mass Meet
ing OH Bridge Square Last
Night.
Arguments to Show Its Beauties and
Utilities---Recrean Aldermen
Denounced. IN
Opponents of the Measure Stgmatized
as Mere Appendages to Various
Monopolies. ~
Resolutions Indorsing the System
Adopted and Will Be Sent to the
Council To-Day. 81

Over two thousand men assembled at
| Bridge square last night to voice the
| protest against the course pursued by
| certain aldermen in the city council, for
the purpose of defeating or rather eur
failing the operators of the elght-hour.
| resolution, by making it applicable to
only portion of the city work. The
remarks of the speakers and the resolu-
| lions adopted fully reveal the Senti
ment of the meeting. The Coop
er's band was in attendance,
| and played several selections, after
which L. w. BroSnan was introduced as
| chairman of the meeting. Three weeks
ago." he said, 1.-The council passed the
eilght-hour law, and ever since lew
| aldermen have beenperSistently at work
to undo what had been done at the re-
| quest of the people. One alderman has
been especially active in this direction,
and after the passage of the resolution
asked the city attorney to define city
| and ward work, who complied by hold
| ing that the former included
grading, sewerage, etc, while
| the balance was ward work and could
be performed by men working eight
hours at $3.50 or ten hours at Sl.75. The
man who has worked hardest to thus
render the eight-hour resolution prac-
man of the Third ward. l will give you
| his name so that those living in his ward
may know who he is and do with him as
| they may see fit if he ever comes before
them again as a candidate. His name
! is w. III. Mills"
The speaker went Oh to quote numer-
GUS examples in contradiction to the as
sertiOn that the eight-hour system is
| calculated to increase the cost to the
city, and showed that the experience of
those who had tried it was that the men
did better and nearly as much work i'll
| eight as i'll ten hours. y reduction OF
| the hours Of labor, he claimed, would
increase consumption and the OppOrtu-
mites for employment, besides making
| better citizens. In conclusion the
| speaker said that the only two wards in
the city not regarding the eight-hour
resolution are the Tenth and Second
wards, and asked his auditors to keep
close watch of the aldermen from those
| wards.
Rev. Kristofer Jansen was next intro
| duced, and addressed the Scandinavian
| portion of the audience, speaking i'll the
| Norwegian language. He was loudly
applauded.
Thomas ii. Lucas was called upon
and talked earnestly for an hour, his re-
marks not being confined entirely to the
eight hour question, but including sew
eral other phases of the labor problem.
He was enthusiastically cheered and
applauded throughout. He began by
saying: II did not think from the
promises given us that such a
meeting as this would be
necessary to remind our rep
resentatives in the city govern
ment of their pledges, but they are very
fOrgetful, and need touching up bit.
These men who go back on their
promises are neither Democrats nor
Republicans, but are simply APPENDICES
to the street railway and the monOpo-
listic corporations. The party in power
is responsible for this blow against the
short hour system. Because two, or
three recreant aldermen hold the bal
ance of power and swing over to the
other side, we must not allow the others
we could, but the other fellows
went back on u.s. We can't have
this and won't have it," He then went
Oh to denOunce the entertainments of
capital upon labor, and the hypocrisy
of men who pretend to be ''friends of
labor" but secretly work to make the
producers the slaves of the nOn-produc-
ers. His language was exceedingly
caustic. and he bitterly attacked the
| dIlSUtCIdCy VI WEALTH. WHICH, Ilt Sdlu Was
growing up in this country.
DR.. NJ. p. Finnegan said that the
eight-hOur movement should be sup
ported for physiological reasons. Ma
ture ordained that man should sleep
eight hours, work eight hours and rest
eight hours. He thought there would
be fewer pauperS, fewer drunkardS and
fewer broken down men and women if
this should become the rule of life.
| The following resolutions were then
adopted with cheers.
| Whereas, The eight-hour system has
been introduced on a portion of our
city work; and,
Whereas, There is at present strong
disposition among certain members of
the council to belittle, weaken and ZEN
der Intellectual its operation by SuppO-
| SitiOuS, arguments and theories against
majority of the people, as well as
| against the high spirit of economic and
industrial reform and progress, there
fore, be it
Resolved, That we, the citizens of
| Minneapolis, in mass meeting assem-
| bled, do hereby reiterate our belief IN
| and approval of the recent measure of
| the council i'll leSSening the hours of
| labor upon portion of the city work,
| hoping before long to see it extend to
every other portion and department of
labor under municipal control; and be
it further
Resolved, That we sternly reprove,
now and henceforth, any spirit which
seeks to hinder, impede or annul the
operation or realization of principle so
benevolent, so manifestly just and
right, so universally looked forward to
as the eight-hour movement and the
shortening of the hours of labor in
every description of toll.